John WizardsJohn Wizards

The self-titled debut LP from John Wizards is a stylistically diverse romp across Southern Africa, from Dar Es Salaam to Maputo and then over to Cape Town. Those are three of the cities that both producer John Withers and vocalist Emmanuel Nzaramba have called home over the years. After a chance meeting in 2011 that was less than fruitful, the pair finally joined forces a year later when Withers attempted to (unsuccessfully) turn Nzaramba onto Jamaican reggae vocal trio the Congos. The producer's eclectic taste translates directly to his music, which combines various styles from his homeland with American R&B and soul, Jamaican dub and otherworldly electronics. The songs unfold effortlessly, merging seamlessly into each other like a well-choreographed dance. Nzaramba is a chameleon, changing his vocal style to suit the mood of the song at hand, crooning soulfully one minute and toasting the next. John Wizards is a sonic journey both geographically and temporally, without being an exercise in musical channel surfing.
(Planet Mu)